ROME AND THEN HOME:)

When he left the Middle East (Israel and Egypt) Flat Hawkster made his way to the fascinating city of Rome, Italy.   He had been looking forward to visiting this city for a long time after studying Ancient Rome in grade 7.  It was a great history tour.   Rome is the capital of Italy and was the centre of the Roman Empire that ruled most of Western Europe for over 700 years.  Ancient Rome first began over 2500 years ago and would develop into a very sophisticated society that introduced many ideas that we still use today: roads, mail service, taxation, stadiums, government, architecture, court systems, military innovation and so much more,   Flat Hawkster spent a lot of time wandering through this city of 2.9 million people and found ancient ruins on display everywhere.   His first stop was the ancient Colosseum.  This is a huge stadium that is similar in size to B.C. place and was designed to hold 50,000 spectators that looked down onto the large stage/floor..  People would gather to watch a variety of presentations but most involved fights to the death with men, animals or men vs. animals.  It was a very violent place for participants and much safer to be in the crowd.  Flat Hawkster was amazed to find out that the floor had close to 80 trap doors that would be used to surprise the crowd with famous gladiators, exotic animals or elaborate stag props.  Imagine yourself standing on that floor in front of  50,000 angry people who were hungry for violence.  Suddenly, the crowd lets out a thunderous roar. You turn around to see that a rhinoceros has been lifted up on to the stage and is charging right at you.  There is no where to run or hide.  Yikes!

In these two pictures you can get a sense of the Colosseum's size.  It is huge!

In this picture Flat Hawkster is pointing to the maze of pathways and holding areas that could be
found under the stage.  This is where the animals and gladiators would be held until
they were lifted up through the trap doors.

Not far from the Colosseum,  Flat Hawkster was able to wander through what was the ancient city of Rome.  Most of these ruins have crumbled now but a few buildings remain.  What visitors can see is how well planned the city was with roads connecting people to the temples, government buildings, theatres, stadiums, etc.   To view what this might have looked like in 320 AD check out this cool video link: Ancient Rome in 3D Animation.

Flat Hawkster can be seen below in the Vatican City.  This "city" or state is the home for the Catholic Church and it is where the Pope lives.  It is an independent state with its own laws and only 800 inhabitants.  This number is much larger however where you consider that approximately 25,000 tourists visit the Vatican each day!  One of the biggest attractions is the Sistine Chapel which features the amazing work of Michelangelo on its ceiling.  Michelangelo was a very famous artist during the Renaissance period and the Pope at the time told him to work on this project.  Michelangelo was not very fond of painting but he had no choice but to follow the wishes of his Pope.  The ceiling was completed after 4 very uncomfortable years where the artist's health suffered and his eyesight was ruined due to the constantly dripping paint.

The Sistine Chapel.  In the wall at the end of the chapel, Michelangelo included a picture
of himself as a very unhappy man,  He wanted people to know that he was not pleased to
have been forced to do all of this painting.

This is St. Peter's square in the Vatican City.  In the picture below you and see the
dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Well Hawthorne Hawks,  this is the final post.  After over four months of travelling Flat Hawkster is now spending some time with relatives before heading back to Hawthorne for a visit in December.  He is excited about seeing everyone again.  As well he is looking forward to meeting all of those people who joined Hawthorne in the fall.  Thanks for following along and a special "shout out" to Mrs. Ratzlaff for her extra work in support of this blog.  Have a great November everyone!